US firm plans trade in human milk

By Harry Mount in New York

12:01AM BST 06 Aug 2005

An American company is to market human milk for the first time.

Prolacta Bioscience, a Los Angeles firm named after the hormone that stimulates the body to produce milk, will buy donated milk from independent banks, pasteurise it then sell it to hospitals for low-birthweight babies.

The company also wants to supply milk for babies with heart defects and those needing chemotherapy.

Elena Medo, its chief executive, said: "To our knowledge this is the first facility of its kind in the world. Human breast milk is really an incredible therapy."

The World Health Organisation agrees. The milk contains antibodies to a range of infections, so babies who drink it gain valuable protection against infection until their own immune system takes over.

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But the Human Milk Banking Association of North America expressed doubts.

"Introducing the profit motive could put pressure on women regardless of the needs of their own babies," a spokesman said.